Electric toaster



Nov. 10, 1953 G. A. BRACE ELECTRIC TOASTER 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 20, 1947 IN V EN TOR. 6e alge A. Brace y ATTORNEY.

Nov. 10, 1953 G. A. BRAcE ELECTRIC TOASTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Deo. 20, 1947 lI/Ol IN V EN TOR.

rye' A.Brdce eo Y ATTORNEY.

Nov. 10, 1953 G. A. BRACE ELECTRIC TOASTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 20, 1947 JNVENTOR.

rye Arace ELM/ ATTORNEY.

Fig 5 Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC TOASTER George A. Brace, Highland Park, Ill., assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Claims.

This invention relates to toasters and more particularly to a timing mechanism for timing successive toasting operations whereby toast may be prepared uniformly and in accordance With the operators desires.

More particularly this invention relates to thermal timers for toasters of the heat-up type in which the toasting intervals are timed by the time it takes for a thermally responsive element to heat to a predetermined. temperature and move to a hot position to terminate the toasting interval.

Timers of the heat-up type must be cooled after each toasting operation to condition the thermally responsive element so that it can properly time a succeeding toasting interval. If a succeeding toasting operation is not begun immediately after a previous one the thermally responsive element will cool naturally so as to be properly conditioned for timing a following toasting operation. However, ii a second toasting operation is initiated immediately ai'ter a previous one the thermally responsive element will only be partially cooled. Hence, the carriage is released too soon and before the bread has become toasted.

According to this invention a cooling block is automatically moved into contact with the thermally responsive element at the termination cf each toasting operation to quickly cool the thermally responsive element thereby making it possible to initiate another toasting operation immediately.

According to this invention the thermally responsive element is forcibly moved from its hot position at the termination of each toasting interval. This will tend to straighten the thermaliy responsive element and bring it into good thermal contact with the cooling block and cool it so that the bread carriers may be returned immediately to toasting position and latched in that position.

Thermal timers for toasters of the heat-up type have an inherent tendency to over-compensate. That is, to operate too fast in timing toasting operations after the iirst so that toast is progressively underdone ior each succeeding toasting operation after the rst. As a toaster is operated in rapid succession to perform succeeding toasting operations it acquires more and more residual heat. This heat, added to that produced by the heaters will toast bread faster and faster as the residual heat accumulates with repeated use. However, timers of the heat-up type also accumulate heat and become progressively hotter for each succeeding toasting operation. it has 2 been found that the tendency of the heat-up timers is to time too fast with rapid repeated use so that the toast is progressively underdone. The cooling block of the present invention serves to minimize this tendency.

According to another feature of this invention a compensating thermally responsive element is positioned to be responsive to the heat accumulated in the toasting oven so that as the toasting oven heats up with repeated use the compensating thermally responsive element will apply increasing resistance to movementl of the thermal timer and lengthen the toasting intervals sufficiently to overcome the tendency of thermal timers to over-compensate. It will of course be understood that each toasting interval after the first will be progressively shorter las residual heat is accumulated but the compensating thermally responsive element will lengthen the toasting intervals after the first suiiiciently to overcome the tendency of the thermal timer to act too fast. This will render it possible to toast bread to the same degree whether it is the rst, second, or fourth toasting operation initiated in rapid succession.v

According to another feature of this invention an easily manipulatable dial is positioned at the front of the toaster for moving the toast carriers upwardly for inspection of the toast independently of the timing mechanism. Also according to this invention a dual purpose push button is positioned centrally in a recess in the dial for reciprocatory and rotary movement. Inward movement of the push button closes a switch to energize a solenoid to move the bread carriers to toasting position. Rotary movement of the push button operates in a novel manner to adjust the timer for preparing light, medium, or dark toast.

According to another feature of this invention a thermal timer is provided having a portion movable to a hot, carriage releasing position against a manually adjustable spring bias. By varying the spring bias', the timer can be readily and simply adjusted to make dark, medium, or light toast. A feature of the spring bias arrangement is its location between the timing and compensating thermostats in such manner as to be effective on both of these elements.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a vertical plan view oi the front end of the side of a toaster according to this invention with the walls of the toaster broken away to ow the details of construction;

Figure 2 is a top plan View of the front end of the toaster of this invention with the walls of the toaster broken away;

Figure 3 is a front plan view;

Figure i is a View showing how the bread carriers are moved upwardly for inspection purposes; and

Figure is a wiring diagram showing how the parts are electrically connected.

Referring to the drawings the reference numeral I@ represents the base of the toaster which may be inade of any suitable insulating heat resisting material such as hard rubber, a phenolic condensation product or other such heat resisting insulating material. The front end of the base Il) has an upstanding arcuate protuberanc@ II for a purpose which will appear hereinafter.

Mounted on a peripheral ledge l2 of base I!) is an appearance housing I3 having bread receiving slots i4 in its top. `Supported on the base iii inwardly of the ledge I2 is la supporting plate i5 which supports the entire mechanism of the toaster housed within the appearance housing Iii. A partition it divides the interior of the appearance housing into a toasting oven I1 and a mechanism compartment I8.

A carriage plate I9 is mounted for vertical reciprocation on a pair of guide rods J rigidly attached at their lower ends to a supporting plate i5 and attached at their upper ends to the partition l5 by a bracket 2i. Bread carriers are supported by the carriage plate I9 by arms 23 extending rearwardly and downwardly through vertical slots 2s in the partition I6 to provide for the vertical reciprocation of the carriers 22, as will later appear.

The carriage plate I9 is adapted to be manually moved upwardly for toast inspection purposes l by a manually actuatable dial 25 positioned exteriorly of the base lli and rotatably mounted in the protuberance II of the base lil by means of a hollow shaft 25. Rigidly secured to the inner end of the hollow shaft Z5 is a crank arm Zi', the outer end of which is pivotally attached to a linlr 2S which extends diagonally rearwardly through the mechanism compartment IB 'and is pivotally attached at its upper end 2) to the carriage plate i9. dial 25 for moving the carriers 22 upwardly for inspection purposes is indicated by the arrow on the face of the dial and preferably by the legend Inspect Main heating elements Ril for performing the toasting function are positioned on each side of each of the bread carriers 22.

The carriage plate i9 normally rests, by gravity, on an auxiliary carriage plate 3i also mounted for vertical reciprocation on the guide rods Eil.

Extending upwardly and laterally from the upper edge of the auxiliary carriage plate 3i are a pair of arms 32 rigidly secured to the upper ends of' solenoid plungers 33 adapted to be drawn downwardly by solenoid coils 34 mounted on the supporting plate l5. The solenoid coils 34 are adapted to be energized by a normally open switch which is closed by the depression of the plunger 35.

push button 3"? is attached to a plunger 38 mounted for rotation and reciprocation inside the hollow shaft The push button 3'! nts within a recess 39 centrally of the dial 25 and is springbiased to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 by the spring tu. The inner end of plunger 38 carries a plate 4I adapted to Contact the plunger 36 Qf the The direction of rotation of the lli 4 switch 35 to close the switch 35 as will be explained hereinafter.

As shown in Fig. 4, the face of the button 3l carries the directive indicia Press to Toast advising the user how to initiate a toasting operation.

Struck forwardly from the upper edge of auxiliary carriage plate 3l is a lug 65 which cooperates with latch lever 65 to hold the auxiliary carriage 3l in downward position. The latch lever is pivoted to the bracket 6l extending forwardly from partition I5. Latch @G is biased clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1 by a spring 68 against a stop 69 on the bracket el. The latch lever 65 has a hook 42 and a cam 43 overlying the hook 42 for a purpose which will be explained hereinafter. The tail end 56 of the latch 56 lies immediately back oi. the lower end of the bimetallic timer 41.

The auxiliary carriage plate 3l is biased for upward movement by 1a spring 4'4 anchored at its upper end to a hook 45 extending forwardly from the bracket 2l and at its lower end is attached to carriage plate 3| by means of a hook 45 extending forwardly from the carriage plate 3 I.

Extending forwardly and downwardly from the bracket 2! is an extension 46 which supports the upper end of a birnetallic timer 4'! and an auxiliary heater 4B positioned forwardly of the bimetallic timer 41.

It will be understood that heater 4.8 can be mounted on the outer face of bimetal 4l. Pivoted to lugs on the lower end of the extension 46' is a cooling block 43 which is biased counterclockwise by a spring 5i). A cam 5I on cooling block is cooperates with a cam 52 struck forwardly from the auxiliary carriage plate 3| in a manner to be explained later.

Attached to the partition I5 inside the toasting oven II is a compensating bimetal 555 which carries at its lower end a slotted cylinder 54 housing a spring 55. The outer end of the spring 55 abuts against a winged nut 5l threaded on a shaft 58. The wings of nut 5'! are slidably received by slots 59 in the barrel of the cylinder 54. The shaft 513 passes through an opening 5i) in the lower end of the birnetallic timer 4'! and extends into a recess 6I in the plunger 38. The rear end of the shaft 58 and the recess 6I in the plunger 38 are non-circular. Hence, they are freely movable axially of each other but rotation of plunger 38 rotates shaft 58 therewith. The shaft 53 has an abutment 62 larger than the opening 5B in the bimetallic timer 4l for a purpose to be explained hereinafter. The lower edge of the auxiliary carriage plate 3l (Fig. 3) engages with a plunger 63' of switch 64 to close the switch eli when the carriage is moved to downward position.

Referring to Fig. 5, one line wire 1I) is connected to one side of the solenoid coils 34 by a conductor 1I, and the other ends of coils 34 are connected to one side of switch 35 by a conductor 12. The other side of switch 35 is connected to the other line wire 'I3 by a conductor 14. The conductor 'II is also connected to one side of the switch 64, the opposite side of which is connected to one side of the auxiliary heater 48 and to one side of the main heaters 3I| by conductors 'i5 and 76. The other sides of the heaters 48 and 30 are connected to the line wire 13 by conductors TI, 18, and 14.

Operation Bread is inserted through the slots I4 so as to rest on the bread carriers 22 and the push button 31 is pressed inwardly to cause the plate 4I to depress the plunger 36 of switch 35 and energize the solenoid coils 34. Energization of the coils 34 will cause the armatures 33 to move downwardly and move the auxiliary carriage plate 3| to downward position `against the bias of the spring 44. The lug 65 on carriage plate 3l will then engage the cam 43 of latch lever 66 land move the latch lever 66 counterclockwise against the bias lof the spring 68 until the lug 65 moves below the hook 42 of the latch lever 66 whereby the spring 58 will move the hook 42 to a position overlying the lug E5 and latch the auxiliary carriage 3| in downward position.

Downward movement ofthe auxiliary carriage plate 3l will permit the carriage plate I9 and the bread carriers 22 to move downwardly by gravity so as vto position the bread 'carried by the carriers 22 between the main heaters 30. The lower edge of the auxiliary carriage plate .3l will also depress the plunger 63 of the switch 64 so as to energize both the auxiliary heater 48 and the main heaters et. The button 31 is then released so as to deenergize the coils 34 and the toasting operation will proceed without further attention .from the operator,

Heat from the main heaters will then perform the toasting function and heat from the auxiliary heater 48 will be transmitted to the bimetallic timer 41. The bimetallic timer 41 is so constructed that its free lower end moves to the lright when heated as viewed in Fig. l. The free end of the timer 41 will engage the .abutment 62 on the shaft 458, move the shaft 58 to the right,

compressing spring and stressingr the lower end of the compensating bimetal "53 for movement to the right. Eventually the lower end of the bimetallic timer 41 will Contact the end 5S of latch lever '66 and move it .counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 1 so as to remove hook 42 from above the lug on the auxiliary carriage plate .3! to `per mit spring 44 to `pop the auxiliary carriage plate 3l, carriage plate I9 and bread carriers 22 'upwardly to expose the toasted bread. vThis action opens switch 64 and deenergizes both the main and auxiliary heaters.

It is to be noted that the compensating bimetal 53 moves toward bimetal 41 upon being heated and resists movement or the latter to its latch releasing position. As the toasting oven I1 heats up this resistance increases, the greatest resistance being imposed just prior to the time the latch 66 is released.

The bimetallic timer 41 being hot at this time it is necessary to quickly cool the same so that a succeeding toasting operation can be begun. Upward movement of the auxiliary carriage plate 3l brings cam 52 into engagement with the cam 5I on the cooling block 49 and moves it into engagement with the bimetallic timer 41 so that the latter is quickly cooled. Movement of the cooling block 49 into contact with the bimetallic timer 41 tends to move the .lower end of the bimetallic timer 4.1 to the left as viewed in Fig. l so as to straighten the timer 41 and bring the cooling block 49 into better thermal contact therewith.

Due to the cooling action of the cooling block 49 the bimetallic timer 41 will be quickly cooled and reconditioned for timing a succeeding toasting operation. A second toasting operation may then be initiated simply by inserting new bread through the slots I4 and depressing the button 31. The cam 52 on the auxiliary carriage plate 3I will be moved from engagement with the cam 5I on the cooling block 49 whereby the spring 50 will 6 move the cooling block v49 away from the bimetallic timer 41 so as to condition the cooling block for a succeeding cooling action and to permit the bimetallic timer 41 to operate as previously described.

The operation will be the same as for the ilrst toasting operation except that the toaster as a whole will have acquired residual heat from the first toasting operation. This residual heat added to that of the main heaters will cook toast faster than when the toaster starts cold. The bimetallic timer 41 will also have acquired residual heat from the previous toasting operation. However, for the heat-up type of bimetallic timer, the timer acquires residual heat faster than the toaster as a whole and thus tends to over-compensate. The bimetallic timer 4l will heat up quicker than for the first toasting operation and, unless prevented, will move to its releasing position sooner. It has been found in practice that bimetallic timers of the heat-up type will operate faster and faster with repeated toasting operations so that if the timer is properly set for toasting a rst toasting operation, for succeeding toasting operati-ons, following each other in rapid succession, the timer will act faster and faster so that the toast is progressively underdone for all operations after the rst.

In order to prevent the bimetallic timer 41 from acting too fast for toasting operations after the first, the compensating bimetal-53 is provided. As the toaster heats up with repeated use the lower end of the compensating bimetal 53 tends to ex to the left as viewed in Fig. l so as to compress the spring 55 to a greater degree. Yl'hus, when the lower end of the timing bimetal 41 contacts the abutment 62 on the shaft 58, it will require a greater force to move the shaft 58 to the right than when the toaster is cold. This will require that the timing bimetal 41 be heated to a higher temperature before it will operate to release the latch 65. However, the temperature of the bmetallic timer 41 at the start of this toasting operation is higher than for the i'irst. As a result, the second toasting operation will be shorter than the rst but longer than if the compensating bimetal 53 were not present. The design is such that the action of the compensating bimetal 53 and that of ie cooling block 49 lengthens successive toasting intervals sulciently to offset the tendency of the bimetallic timer 41 to over-compensate.

If the operator desires dark toast the button if.' is rotated to rotate the shalt 5B and by cooperation with nut v5'! move the abutment 62 to the left as viewed in Fig. l so that the restraining action of the spring 55 will come into play sooner and thus lengthen the toasting intervals. Ii light or medium toast is desired the button 31 is rotated in the opposite direction to move the abutment S2 farther away from the lower end of bimetallic timer 41 so as to shorten the toasting intervals. This action is represented by the arrows and the letters D and L on the face of the button or knob 31 as shown in Fig. 4.

if at any time the operator desires to inspect the toast during a toasting interval the dial 25 is rotated clockwise as indicated by the arrow in Fig.. 4. This will move the crank arm 21 clockwise and move the link 28 upwardly and raise the carriage plate I9 and bread carriers 22 upwardly so as to project the bread upwardly through the slots I4. This operation will not interfere in any way with the timing of the toasting intervals.

From the foregoing it is obvious that this invention provides a toaster in which the toasting intervals may be predetermined by the operator by operation of the control mechanism which initiates a toasting operation. It is also evident that the compensating bimetal adds resistance to movement of the timing bimetal as the toaster heats up with repeated use so as to prolong the toasting intervals and counteract the tendency of the timing bimetal. to over-compensate.

While I have shown but a single embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include al1 equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A toaster comprising a bread carrier movable from receiving to toasting position, a thermal timer for timing the duration of successive toasting intervals, heating means ior said timer, said timer being of the type which times the duration of toasting intervals by the time it taires to heat said timer to a predetermined temperature, means for moving said carrier to toasting' position, means for latching carrier in toasting position, means actuated by movement of said carrier to toasting position for energia-ing said heating means, a cooling block normally spring-biased away from heat exchange relationship with said timer, actuated responsive to the heating of said timer for releasing said carrier for movement to receiving position and means actuated by said movement for moving said cooling block into heat exchange relationship with said timer.

2. A toaster according to claim 1 in which said timer is a bimetallic element with a free end which bows toward said coolinfr block upon being heated and movement of said cooling block into heat exchange relationship with said timer forcibly straightens said bimetallic element to -bring it into better heat exchange relationship with said cooling block.

3. A toaster comprising, a bread carrier movable from receiving to toasting position and spring-biased to receiving position, means for moving said carrier to toasting position, a latch for holding said carrier in toasting position, a thermal timer lfor timing the duration of succeeding toasting intervals, said timer having a portion movable from a cold position into releasing engagement with said latch when heated, heating means for said timer, means actuated by movement or said carrier to toasting position for energizing said heating means to cause said portion to move into releasing engagement with said latch to release said carrier for movement to receiving position and a cooling block associated with said carrier and actuated by said movement for forcibly moving the movable portion of said timer out of engagement with said latch.

4. A toaster comprising, a bread carrier movable from receiving to toasting position, a thermal timer for timing the duration of successive toasting intervals, means for moving said car-- rier to toasting position, heating means for heaty ving said thermal timer, means actuated by movement of said carrier to toasting position for energizing said heating means, said thermal timer comprising a bimetallic element having a free end movable from a ycold position to a hot position when heated for timing each toasting interval, a, compensating bimetal element having a free end positioned in spaced relation to the free end of said timer and acting in opposition thereto and spring means acting between the free ends of said `bimetallic elements whereby said spring means resists movement of the free end of said timer to its hot position and said compensating bimetallic element increases the resistive action of said spring means with rises in toaster temperature.

'5. A toaster comprising, a supporting frame, main heaters, an auxiliary carriage mounted for vertical reciprocation on said frame, biasing means for biasing said auxiliary carriage to its upward position, power means for moving said auxiliary carriage to its downward position against the bias of said biasing means, means for latching said auxiliary carriage in its downward position, a bread carrier mounted on said auxiliary carriage for downward gravity movement therewith and being movable upwardly independently of said auxiliary carriage when the latter is in its downward position, a thermal timer, said timer being movable in a direction to release said latching means upon being heated, a heater for said timer, means for opposing the releasing action of said timer, a rotatable dial mounted on said frame, linkage means connecting said dial to said carrier and operative to raise the latter independently or said auxiliary carriage upon rotation of said dial, a push button mounted for both rotation and reciprocation centrally of said dial, means actuated by a rotary movement of said push button for varying the opposing action of said opposing means, means actuated by a reciprocal movement of said push button for energizing said power means and means actuated -by movement of said auxiliary carriage to its downward position for energizing said heaters.

GEO. A. BRACE.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,550,949 Coleman Aug. 25, 1925 2,005,635 Randolph June 18, 1935 2,106,269 Brosseau et al Jan. 25, 1938 2,167,121 McCreary et al. July 25, 1939 2,196,393 Ireland Apr. 9, 1940 2,254,687 Koci Sept. 2, 1941 2,260,843 Middleton et al. Oct. 21, 1941 2,262,285 Ireland Nov. 11, 1941 2,266,045 Ireland Dec. 16, 1941 2,271,485 Kooi Jan. 27, 1942 2,271,520 `Strauss Feb. 3, 1942 2,268,699 Gomersall et al. July 7, 1942 2,307,347 Anderson Jan. 5, 1943 2,317,228 Shroyer Apr. 20, 1943 2,361,078 Anderson Oct. 24, 1944 2,362,751 Huck Nov. 14, 1944 2,362,753 Huck Nov. 14, 1944 2,369,434 Huck Nov. 20, 1945 2,440,142 Elliott Apr. 20, 1948 

